A carer who fleeced a grandma out of thousands of pounds as she lay in hospital with a broken back has been jailed.

Deborah Elms was regarded as a ‘trusted friend’ by her 86-year-old client.

But while the pensioner was laid up in hospital following an accident, thieving Elms cleared out her account using her bank card and PIN.

Minshull Crown Court heard how the cash had been saved up by the pensioner to cover her funeral costs and to hand out to grandchildren.

But Elms, 46, who had been trusted with the cards and codes on shopping trips, ransacked the account. She began stealing between March and May last year when her client was hospitalised with a broken coccyx.

From that point on she never visited or telephoned her in hospital, but kept the bank cards and withdrew money.

The victim’s family were alerted when bills went unpaid - and discovered £2,270 missing.

Granddaughter Jody and son Peter Stubbs said the crime had devastated the pensioner (Photo: Steve Allen)

Police found an envelope hidden in a wardrobe in the carer’s home on Tame Street, Denton, containing £1,000 in cash.

After being confronted, Elms denied stealing but pleaded guilty to 13 counts of fraud at the start of a trial.

However, the court heard she refused to say where the rest of the money had gone and showed little remorse.

Elms’ own husband was unaware of the hidden cash his wife had stolen - or that she was in considerable debt.

Sentencing the carer to eight months in prison, District Judge Peter Lakin told her these were ‘not only serious offences but very mean ones’.

He told Elms, who has no previous convictions: “Not surprisingly this has had a considerable impact. Rightly so, she sees this as a betrayal of her friendship.”

Elms was hired after the victim’s grandaughter, Jody Stubbs, became pregnant and could no longer care for her.